Trooper cursed at and threatened accident victims

Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 12:28 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 2:32 p.m.

MANATEE COUNTY - A veteran state trooper has been suspended without pay by the Florida Highway Patrol for using profanity and threatening accident victims.

Trooper Kristi Menzies, who has been with the FHP for 24 years, was sent to investigate an accident at a bend of Wauchula Road in rural Manatee County about 1 a.m. on Nov. 3.

Bryan Robertson, 23, had been driving home after an evening of hunting hogs with two friends.

Menzies, 48, would later cite Robertson for crossing the double line and clipping an oncoming vehicle — allegations that Robertson strongly denies.

The other car was driven by an off-duty Tampa police officer, Robertson said.

After the collision Robertson's truck spun into a ditch. His head smacked a window, cutting his forehead, and glass was embedded under his skin.

An off-duty Bradenton police officer who lives nearby heard the collision and went to the scene to help.

Once their truck came to rest, Robertson and his friends smelled gas. Worried that the vehicle could catch fire, they removed their rifles — which were in cases — from the back of the truck and stacked them nearby, as the off-duty Bradenton officer approached.

Robertson said he thinks the officer must have assumed the men were trying to hide evidence. The officer ordered them to stop.

“She never identified herself or showed a badge,” Robertson said.

The identity of the Bradenton officer was unclear on Thursday because the FHP had not yet supplied the Herald-Tribune with the agency's internal affairs report on the incident.

When Trooper Menzies arrived, the off-duty police officer told the trooper that she had seen the three men taking firearms out of their truck.

Menzies was wearing a microphone and her dash camera recorded their conversation.

“They were probably going to shoot us — a-------,” Menzies said.

One of Robertson's friends asked why the off-duty officer, who was not in uniform, had searched the truck.

“B-------! Come here a-------,” Menzies said to the three men.

Robertson's friend said they were waiting for the state, evidently not knowing Menzies was a state trooper.

“I am the f------ state,” Menzies replied.

After paramedics had picked most of the glass out of Robertson's face and bandaged his injuries, Menzies interviewed him about the crash.

Robertson invoked his right to remain silent, telling the trooper it was advice his mother had once given him.

The trooper cited Robertson for crossing the center line, no proof of insurance and for transporting an open container, though she testified Wednesday that no open liquor containers were found at the scene.

A judge dismissed the open container charge.

Robertson's defense attorney Brandon Daniels, a former police officer, said he found Menzie's conduct “highly unprofessional.”

“To arrive at the scene and start hurling insults at accident victims is egregious,” Daniels said. “When she starts her investigation by calling my client an ‘a------,' it doesn't lead me to believe she will be impartial.”

Daniels also took issue with the threats that came after Robertson invoked his rights. “They don't have to answer her,” the attorney said.

Robertson said he “felt helpless, especially since I had no options. It wasn't a good experience dealing with her.”

Capt. Nancy Rasmussen, the FHP's chief spokeswoman, said Menzies was suspended without pay for her conduct. Details of the suspension — when it occurred and how long it was for — were unclear. Rasmussen said she was reviewing the internal affairs report before releasing more details and the document to the public.

“We do have a policy about profanity. We expect that our troopers are professional in their behavior to the residents of Florida,” Rasmussen said. “Of course, threatening is not a professional behavior.”

Through Rasmussen, Menzies declined to comment on the incident.

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